Just Another Day
by xSweetiePiex
Summary: A Promised Land fanfiction. Secrets. Lies. Fear. Retaliation. This is just another day in the lives of a the Greene family. Takes place in Sesason 3.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Promised Land or Touched By An Angel. I am not making any money off of this. Please don't sue :)**

**Oh, and this is a Promised Land fan fiction, at least for now. The Touched By An Angel characters may make appearances, but I felt it was only fair to say that before you continued reading. That being said, I do hope you read and review. I appreciate all forms of feedback! Thanks!**

**This story takes place during season 3 of Promised Land. Russell just started volunteering at the Ridley Center.**

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**Just Another Day**

After quite a relaxing weekend with his wife, Russell Greene found it extra hard to find the motivation to go to the Ridley Center Monday morning. Only the thought that there were teens in trouble that needed him was able to get him out of bed and go down to the center.

Russell dragged his feet as he trudged down the stairs. His mother and wife were sitting at the table. His nephew, Nathaniel, was busy finishing up some last minute homework. Russell gave the boy an admonishing glare. Dinah was still in the bathroom getting ready and Josh was still out in the trailer.

Russell downed a glass of hot black coffee silently.

"Honey, are you okay?" Claire finally asked. Russell nodded.

"I'm fine. Just tired, I guess." He turned to his nephew. "Nathaniel, do you want a ride to school?"

"Yes, sir." The boy answered. He shoved his notebook into his backpack, and took one last bite of his piece of toast before following his uncle to the car.

The car ride was silent. Russell thought that maybe he could catch a nap in the morning or early afternoon. The Ridley Center was often pretty empty until after school let out. Russell pulled up to Nathaniel's school. The boy had been unusually quiet. The car was completely stopped, but he didn't get out.

"I'll see you after school." Russell tried to be nonchalant. He wondered why Nathaniel wasn't leaving the car. He dropped his gaze to his backpack on the floor.

"Uncle Russell?" Nathaniel's voice was small and weak.

"Yes?"

"Can you sign this?" The boy pulled out a red slip of paper with the words **Detention** **Slip** written across it in big, bold letters.

"What's this?" Russell's voice rose sharply.

"Um… I got a detention." Nathaniel kept his gaze low.

"I can _see_ that." His uncle yelled. "Now why didn't you show this to me before? You had it all weekend… Nathaniel?" He waited. "Nathaniel, look at me." He slowly raised his eyes to meet his uncle's. "We'll talk about this more later." Nathaniel felt a rush of fear spread over him. Russell reached for a pen in his pocket and signed the form. "So what time do you need to be picked up?"

"3:30." Nathaniel answered. Then, for good measure, he threw in, "sir."

Nathaniel gingerly opened the car door, grabbed his backpack, and disappeared into the doors of his school.

_Great._ Russell thought. _Just great. What a wonderful way to start out a week!_ He thought about what Nathaniel might have done to deserve a detention… and more importantly, why the boy hadn't come to him or his wife. If they taught their children anything, it was that honesty was the best policy, and to come to them when they were in trouble. They had been through so much with Nathaniel, and he was so different from when they first got him… He had grown, learned, changed, and became a son any father could be proud of.

Russell drove the rest of the way to the Ridley Center. When he arrived, he saw Leon sifting through piles of papers on his desk.

"Thank God you're here." Leon sighed.

Russell smiled to himself. Exactly. Thank _God._

"What can I do?"

"I'm swamped." Leon sounded so desperate. "Lots of paperwork that needs to be filed, arranged, sorted…"

So much for Russell's much needed nap. "Okay. I'll start over here, we'll meet in the middle."

It took about all day before the papers were all sorted, filed, and separated. There were so many kids, and so many files for each of them. It was hard to keep up. Russell couldn't help but feel like he was invading their privacy, even though he only looked at the files long enough to get their names and filing information.

"Done!" Leon announced. He looked relieved, yet really tired. "I have to run over to deliver some of these old files to our storage unit for safe keeping. I'll be back in about an hour."

"Okay." Finally, Russell could catch a few minutes of shuteye.

He must have drifted off to sleep because he was awoken to the sound of knocking.

"Come in!" He called. He wasn't expecting Leon to be back that soon. But, it wasn't Leon.

"Hi." A young girl answered him. He didn't recognize her as ever being there before. She looked to be around 14 or 15. She was slender and had long blonde hair that covered half her face. She had a very fair complexion and Russell could tell she had been crying recently. "Um… is Leon here?"

"He's on an errand. Can I help you?"

She looked uncertain. "No, thanks. Just tell him that Hailey stopped by. Okay?" Her voice was skittish and she bit her bottom lip.

"No problem. I'm Russell Greene. I'm new here." He stood up with the intention of shaking the girl's hand. She stepped back away from him. He stopped. "Nice to meet you." He noticed Hailey's muscles were tensed. She backed away, not turning her back to him.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too." She smiled apprehensively before finally closing the door behind her.

Russell sighed. There was obviously something going on with her… whoever she was. Maybe Leon could fill him in. There was just something about her that made him want to figure out what was going on in her life and help her.

LT saw Hailey backing out from Mr. Greene's office. He walked over to her. "Hailes." He called out.

She glanced back at him and smiled slightly. Hailey's older brother, Joey, was one of LT's closest friends. Hailey was 15, but very petite. Joey had asked LT to keep an eye out for her ever since he caught a few guys messing with her. Joey had gotten into some trouble with the law and was sentenced to serving out his probation at the Ridley Center. He didn't like Hailey to be home alone with their mother and her boyfriends. Tough neighborhood. Tough adults. Leon didn't mind Hailey hanging around, even though she had never had any run-ins with the law.

"Hey, LT." She answered. Her voice was shaky, even with him.

"What's wrong?" He knew immediately something wasn't right. Maybe it was the look in Hailey's eyes, or maybe it was just that almost _brotherly _feeling that something wasn't right.

"Nothing." Hailey lied. She didn't want LT to know what was going on. She couldn't tell anyone. Especially not LT because he would tell Joey. She didn't want Joey knowing she couldn't take care of herself.

"You're a liar." LT stated. Hailey started to walk away. "Where do you think you're going? You really think I can't notice that you're standing here terrified and crying? Come on, now… I've known you since me and your bro were in grade school. You really think I can't tell…?"

With a sigh of desperation, Hailey tucked the chunk of hair covering her eye behind her ear. She heard LT gasp. Her right eye was swollen and bruised. Her cheekbone was indented.

"Are you happy now?" Hailey asked, venomously.

"Who did that to you?" a voice asked. But it wasn't LT. The color washed from Hailey's face. LT turned around. Behind him stood none other than Russell Greene.

**TBC… Please read and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took so long to update and this update is so short! But please read (and don't forget to review)! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Promised Land nor do I own Touched By An Angel. I am not making any money off of this! Please don't sue!**

**Thanks again for reading!**

"Nobody," Hailey lied. She let the hair fall back in front of her face. Tears threatened to fall at any moment. She turned to walk away. LT was close enough to grab her arm.

"Hold it, hold it, hold it." LT exclaimed. "Let me see… okay?"

Hailey stopped and allowed him pull her closer. She let him brush her hair back again, wincing only slightly when he brushed against her bruised face.

Russell, who had been watching quietly, couldn't help himself. He walked closer, still maintaining a reasonable distance. "Who did that to you?" Hailey didn't answer. LT sent him a warning look. "What happened?" He changed the wording slightly.

Hailey shrugged. "I must have run into a door or something." She sniffled. LT angled her head to get a better look. He poked her cheek gingerly. She bit her lip to keep from screaming in pain.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "That really hurts."

"It doesn't look broken, kid." LT countered. "But it's bruised pretty badly." She nodded. "He sure did a number on you, huh?"

"I told you, I… I'm just clumsy." Hailey denied.

"Your mom's new boyfriend, was it?" LT pressed.

Hailey was sick of lying. Wordlessly, she nodded. "It was my fault though… I pissed him off. I shouldn't have…"

"Hey, hey, hey! This wasn't your fault!" LT interrupted her. He pulled her into a hug. She didn't fight him. She didn't flinch when he held her. She trusted him. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

She suddenly pulled away. "You can't tell Joey."

"Why not?" Russell had been moving closer and was now next to the pair.

Hailey looked over at Russell, fear growing in her eyes. She forgot he was still there. "You just… can't." She looked over at LT. LT understood. But Russell didn't. "If he knew, he'd start something with Lyle."

"Lyle?" Russell asked.

"My mom's boyfriend," She answered. "And then he'd get sent to Juvie… or worse."

"Well, we're going to call the police, sweet heart." Russell made his voice as gentle as possible.

"No! We can't!" Hailey exclaimed. She tried to run, but LT anticipated this, and grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"He'll kill me if you call… besides, nobody's going to believe me."

"I promise you they would." Russell assured her. It was so sad how abuse went underreported because kids were afraid they would not be believed.

"They never have before." Hailey sighed. "He'll just be really convincing. It's not worth it. Then I'll really be in trouble later. Trust me, it's not as bad as it looks. I never meant for you… for anyone… to see this."

"Hailes, maybe going to the police isn't such a bad idea." LT tried. "And I'll talk to Joey with you. He shouldn't be hurting you, kid."

"I guess you're right, LT." She answered.

"Come on, I'll drive you." Russell offered, before Hailey had the chance to change her mind. "You can come too, LT." He added when he saw the apprehension on Hailey's face.

"Should we wait for Joey?" Hailey asked. "Because I think he has counseling or something today." It was mandated by the court as a condition of his parole. It was not optional, and it would keep him away for at least a few more hours.

"Going down to the station won't take long. I know some of the police officers." Russell tried to convince her. She nodded.

"I guess so." She replied. "Maybe I shouldn't report it. It was just this once. I mean, I shouldn't complain…" She looked down for a second. "What do you think I should do?" She shot a piercing look at LT.

"It's gonna be okay. You need to report this." He added, whispering, "Besides, Mr. Greene isn't likely to drop this anytime soon."

"Oh, okay…" She gulped. "You'll… come with me, right?"

"Of course, baby girl."

"Thanks." She smiled. LT slung his arm around her. "Thanks, Mr. Greene."

"Let's go." Russell led the pair towards his car. This was going to be one long day.

**Please review!!!! Thanks bunches.**


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